Tender plants and bulbs for the garden started in the greenhouse are put out into their summer positions early this month.
Tuberous begonias, caladiums, coleus, impatiens, fuchsias, and geraniums join the annual seedlings which were set out earlier.
A searching decision must be made about each greenhouse exotic:
Does it go indoors as a house plant or outside on the border, or as a house plant refuge? Even porch and window boxes can house some plants.
With the newly gained elbow room in the greenhouse and the “What is so rare . . .” weather, the remaining material waxes beautifully.
With just the right amount of shade on the glass from Lumite screening, slats, or commercial shading compound, flowering cacti, gloxinias, achimenes, episcias, isolomas, and the choice bromeliad Aechmea fasciata all contribute to a beautiful scene.
Greenhouse Gardener’s Use of Precious Planting Time
The greenhouse gardener, looking ahead, is a little callous at this time.
He overlooks the present beauty as he overhauls, cuts down, and propagates exotic house plants to produce fine specimens for fall.
Dracaenas, philodendrons, dieffenbachias, and other old reliables will make vigorous growth during the summer, which is the secret of later success.
Leaves from the best gloxinias are firmly potted in sphagnum, peat, and sand or a mixture of perlite and vermiculite.
By summer’s end, each will make a sturdy little tuber that can be potted in early spring and will produce flowers.
Critically inspect all the plants that are to stay in the greenhouse.
Passion flower, wax vine, and stephanotis are carefully tended and fed in preparation for their blooming period.
Gloriosa Rothchildiana
If Gloriosa Rothchildiana tops have been dead a month or more, it may be good to dump the big pot, sort the tubers, and plant some or all of the large ones outdoors for summer bloom.
The crop of little tubers usually found should be planted in a sizable bulb pan using a rich soil mixture.
Moisten thoroughly and sink the pot outside conveniently or in a sunny cold frame.
Order plants now so they may be well grown before fall.
While hot weather is a hazard to hardy garden material in transit, the reverse is true of exotic material, which is far more tolerant of heat than cold.
Tibouchina Semidecandra “Empress Flower”
Tibouchina semidecandra is a colorful item in the greenhouse planting, especially when grown as a vine.
Its unique, plush, veined leaves, sometimes silvery, sometimes with a ruddy sun-kissed edging, are a brilliant foil for its flat, indigo-purple flowers.
It is called the empress flower, has a historical background, and is sometimes known by the earlier name Pleroma splendens.
It propagates readily from green cuttings and will flower in a comparatively small container.
Small specimens are often moved out into the flower border in summer, where they make a showing.
Tibouchina belongs to the Melastomataceae, a family with thousands of species, many with variously colored flowers which should be seen more often in our greenhouses.
Schizocentron Elegans “Spanish Shawl”
The richly-colored Spanish shawl (Schizocentron elegans) with reddish stems, bright-green leaves, and rose-purple flowers is of this family.
It comes from Jalapa, Mexico, and was for many years lost to cultivation.
Perhaps due to its high altitude of origin, it is easy to lose to excess humidity, poor light, or other factors not to its liking.